


i'll eat you whole (i love you so)

by WeeBeastie



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 07:49:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10509456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeBeastie/pseuds/WeeBeastie
Summary: Silver is recovering in Flint's cabin after he loses his leg. It's rough going for both of them (at least in part because Flint is a mother hen).





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this idea for a fic that takes place right after Silver loses his leg, while he’s recovering in Flint’s cabin. It is kind of angsty and a little sad, but I promise it ends happily for our ridiculous ginger bean and the prettiest pirate to ever pirate. There are elements of hurt/comfort and very vague hints of some rough things in Silver’s past, if you squint. They’re in kind of an established relationship at the beginning of this.
> 
> Title borrowed from “Breezeblocks” by alt-J. Rated E because I’m trying my hand at a sexy scene, oh my. Unbeta’d, as before.

It was a harrowing time for Silver, and indeed for Flint as well. It seems now as though Silver will survive the loss of his leg, though what said loss will do to the rest of him remains to be seen. He is recuperating in Flint’s cabin on the window seat, alternately asleep and awake, in fits and starts. There’s a blanket tucked neatly around him (Flint’s doing) and a water pitcher with a cup in arm’s reach. The last few days have seen Silver returning slowly to the land of the living, beginning to show his old self again. It is a profound relief for Flint.

Flint sits on his bed, idly reading a book. The hour is growing late, and his eyes feel heavy and gritty. Still, he resists sleep, knowing all too well what (who) waits for him there. He doesn’t realize he is drifting off until he starts awake, a loud thump and a quiet whimper echoing through the cabin.

He’s on his feet in an instant, crossing to the window seat in two strides. Silver is on the floor on his stomach, eyes open but unseeing. “Silver?” Flint whispers, grasping him under the arms and helping to sit him up.

“No!” Silver roars out of nowhere, hands finding Flint’s shoulders and pushing him away with a startling amount of force. “Don’t, don’t!” He sounds near panic.

Flint sits back, stunned, but before he can collect himself Silver slumps over, his eyes closing before snapping open again, his face the picture of confusion.

“Why am I on the floor?” he asks, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

“You must have…fallen, somehow,” Flint says, cautiously moving forward and helping Silver up again, back into the window seat. This time Silver lets him, no hint of the terror that gripped him before anywhere to be found.

“You need anything, just call for me. I can fetch Dr. Howell if need be,” Flint says, tucking the blanket around Silver again. Silver grunts and closes his eyes, and in moments is sleeping again as though nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Flint returns to his own bed, still feeling concerned and admittedly curious about what happened. He shakes it off and lets himself doze for a few hours before sunrise, creeping out of the cabin to let Silver sleep in peace and quiet as soon as he sees a hint of daylight. 

—

The next night feels eerily like a repeat of the one that came before. Flint has just dozed off when he hears a tremendous crash and opens his eyes to see the prone, still figure of Silver on the floor, bathed in moonlight. His heart nearly stops.

Again he rushes to his side; again he lays hands on him. He gives Silver a quick shake, trying to rouse him. “Silver? John,” he whispers, almost pleading.

“Stop it, stop it,” Silver whispers in response, his glassy eyes boring a hole into Flint’s. 

Flint lets go, alarmed, worried he may be hurting Silver somehow. “What’s wrong, John?”

“Please, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Silver gasps. Abruptly his head lolls, his eyes roll, and Flint can tell he’s aware in a way he was not a moment ago. “We have to stop meeting this way,” Silver says hoarsely, blinking and regarding Flint with a pained smile.

Flint feels relief wash over him, because if Silver is making smart remarks then he’s obviously feeling more himself. “Were you dreaming?” he asks, helping Silver back up into the window seat.

“I can’t recall,” Silver says, clipped. His eyes close, and he’s asleep as soon as Flint gingerly tucks the blanket back around him. Flint returns to his own bed, watching Silver sleep for several long hours until dawn.

—

By the third night, Flint has devised a plan. He’s decided he is to stay awake and watch Silver, see if he can divine a reason for why or how Silver keeps ending up facedown on the floor in the middle of the night. Howell checks Silver’s leg (healing well, thus far), feels his forehead for any sign of fever (there is none), and then doses Silver with a small amount of laudanum to help him sleep. Flint watches all this closely, nearby, his arms folded over his chest and a stern expression on his face. Howell may or may not mutter something like ‘mother hen’ on his way out of the cabin.

Silver falls asleep soon after Howell leaves, and Flint settles in to keep watch. He picks a book to pass the time and sits on his bed, waiting. Waiting. 

After several hours, Flint suddenly hears movement from the window seat. He looks up from the book and sees Silver sitting up, talking as though he’s awake. 

“Well, if that’s what he thinks…tell him. I don’t want to, he won’t listen to me. No, I’m not. No. I’m not! Do you know…? I suppose I will, I’ll go,” Silver is muttering as he makes to get out of the window seat. Flint watches in horror, transfixed, as Silver swings his legs round, puts his right foot on the floor, pushes up to stand, and immediately loses his balance. He cries out when he hits the floor, hands scrabbling, face contorted in pain.

Flint hurries to his side and gathers him in his arms, one hand gently rubbing Silver’s back. “Shh. Hush now. It’s all right, John,” he says, holding him close.

Silver groans and hides his face in Flint’s neck, takes several hitching breaths, then abruptly sits back, brow furrowed. “Have I fallen again?” he asks, voice muzzy with sleep.

“Yes,” Flint confirms softly, relieved to see Silver back to himself. “Have you ever walked in your sleep?” he asks, resigned, feeling a cold spot of dread in his stomach. He already knows the answer.

Recognition flickers across Silver’s features and he laughs bitterly. “Oh, yes, I used to. But not since– not for a long time,” he amends quickly. “Fucking perfect, now that I can’t walk on my own I take the habit up again,” he growls, letting Flint help him up on to the window seat.

“From now on you’ll sleep with me,” Flint says before he even realizes he’s thought it. 

Silver studies him, one eyebrow arched. “What will the men think? Getting off together is one thing, but letting me share your bed every night…that’s another entirely.”

“I don’t care what they think, I don’t want you trying to roam again and breaking your face,” Flint says tersely. “At least if you’re next to me I can pull you back before you fall.”

Anger flashes in Silver’s eyes. “So it’s like that, is it? Pity the poor half-man, he who as a child could sleepwalk under his own power, but now can’t even fucking manage that,” he spits with surprising vitriol.

“It isn’t. Not at all. Now come to bed,” Flint says, putting an arm under Silver’s shoulders and nearly carrying him to his own large, luxurious bed. 

Silver huffs out a sigh. “This isn’t a good idea,” he informs Flint, then rolls on to his side, facing away. He falls asleep again, and Flint does, too, one arm finding its way around Silver’s middle during the night.

—

The next evening, around sunset, Flint walks in on Silver arguing vociferously with Howell. “I don’t want any more laudanum. It’s apparently rekindled in me some things that I shouldn’t like to ever experience again,” Silver is saying, sitting up in bed with his fists clenched in the sheets.

“Don’t be stubborn, Silver. If I don’t give you anything, you’ll feel horrible pain and it’ll keep you up all night,” Howell says, trying to reason with him. “When this awful thing happened, the men - myself included, mind - swore that we would take care of you. This is part of that.”

“I don’t want to be taken care of!” Silver hisses, flushed with emotion. Only then does he notice Flint in the doorway. He ignores him. “You seem to think me an invalid. I neither need, nor want, your pity, sir. Take it elsewhere,” he seethes at Howell.

Howell heaves a put-upon sigh and leaves Flint alone with Silver. Flint takes a few steps forward, trying to gauge Silver’s mood toward him. “He’s just trying to make things tolerable for you. If you don’t have laudanum, how will you sleep?” Flint asks, approaching the bed. 

“If I do have laudanum, I’ll try to go for a stroll and you’ll have to rescue me again,” Silver says bitterly, though the anger is gone from his voice. Flint sits on the edge of the bed next to him and reaches out to Silver’s hand, taking it gently in his own. Silver doesn’t take his hand away. Flint raises it to his lips and kisses it fondly, looking up at Silver.

“I know that it’s important to you, how the others see you. That they have respect for you, and don’t express pity. But you can’t–” Flint starts, but Silver cuts him off.

“I understand if you don’t want me anymore,” he says calmly, regarding Flint with a steady, even gaze. He’s watching him for a reaction. “I’m less a man, more a creature, now. You deserve better. Let’s face it, at best I was pretty, before. Even whole, I was never…I was not…” It’s rare to find John Silver at a loss for words, but.

“Is that what you think?” Flint asks, incredulous. He shifts closer to Silver, lacing their fingers together. “John, I…you must know this changes nothing of how I feel for you. None of the things I’ve been doing have been out of pity, if that’s what you’re afraid of. I still find you aggravating, and too smart for your own good, and frankly frustratingly beguiling. You utter shit, of course I still want you. I’d have to be mad not to. You are exactly what I deserve, and all that I want.”

A relieved little laugh burbles up, unbidden, from Silver’s chest. “I think I’ll have that put on my headstone. Here lies John Silver: aggravating, too smart for his own good, and frustratingly beguiling.” He reaches out with his free hand to stroke Flint’s head, and something tense about him eases.

“It’s the truth,” Flint insists softly, a little smile on his face. He clears his throat, taking a moment before speaking again. “How are you feeling?” he asks, his conversational tone giving nothing away. Or so he believes.

“About as well as can be expected,” Silver says, a gleam coming to his eyes. He knows that tone, even as Flint attempts to conceal what he’s thinking. “Why?” Silver asks, rubbing gently behind Flint’s ear in a way he knows he likes.

Flint hums happily, leaning in so their foreheads touch for a moment. “If you’re feeling up to it, I was thinking perhaps I could show you just how beguiling you are to me.”

Silver glances pointedly down at himself, at his own bare chest and the sheets that cover his lap. He has been foregoing everything but breeches these past few days, seeing no need to wear proper clothes while confined to Flint’s cabin. “There is at least one part of me that is starting to feel very up for it, yes.”

Flint snorts and shakes his head, then lets go of Silver’s hand to push the sheets off him. He slides his hand up Silver’s thigh and unlaces his breeches, wasting no time sliding his hand inside and wrapping his fingers around Silver’s cock. It’s half-hard already, and Flint’s touch quickly brings him to full hardness. “Do you know,” Flint purrs in his ear, “you are a ridiculously attractive pain in my arse.”

“Ahh, I love when you whisper sweet nothings to me,” Silver pants. The waning light of the evening paints his skin gold and brings out the color in his eyes. 

Flint moves his hand quickly, leaning in to kiss and bite along Silver’s neck. He squeezes, eliciting a delighted groan from Silver. He strokes him, pausing now and then to rub his thumb over the head of Silver’s cock. Flint watches as beads of pre-cum gather at the tip, and his mouth waters.

“Oh yes, more, just like that,” Silver moans, closing his eyes and beginning to thrust eagerly upwards to meet Flint’s hand. “Ah, you’re so good, please don’t stop. Flint, James! Jesus,” he whines.

Flint watches Silver’s face as he brings him off, silently marveling at just how spectacular it is to once again see rapture etched so plainly in his fine features. Silver comes with a shout, making a mess of himself, the sheets, and Flint’s hand. Satisfied, he slumps back against the pillows, a dazed and dazzling grin working its way to his lips.

Flint gives him only a few moments to recover before kicking off his boots, wriggling out of his pants, and climbing into the bed with Silver. He touches Silver’s cheek tenderly with his clean hand, his other hand coming to wrap around himself. Flint feels Silver watching as he strokes his own flushed cock, barely managing to keep his eyes open so he can look into Silver’s. “Christ,” he gasps when their eyes meet, coming suddenly, painting Silver’s chest and stomach with his release.

Flint slumps down at Silver’s side, both of them catching their breath. “We’ve made a right mess of ourselves, and my bed, too,” he says hoarsely after a moment. 

“Everything is as it should be, then,” Silver says, shooting Flint a positively wicked, ‘cat who got the canary’ sort of look.

Flint grins, then removes his shirt and gently cleans Silver off, then himself. He tosses the filthy shirt aside, resolved to deal with it later. The cabin has gone fully dark and Flint suddenly finds himself feeling very warm and sleepy. He curls up close to Silver, lying down next to him and curling an arm protectively around him.

Silver pulls Flint close, settling in with Flint’s head on his chest. “I wonder what Howell will say when I tell him what has replaced the laudanum as my new favorite sleeping aid,” he muses. Flint just snorts and rests his ear over the steady beat of Silver’s heart.

They drift off together, and for the first night in a long while, they both enjoy a good night’s sleep.


End file.
